Chess: Served On The Rocks
20 Nov 2007 12:32
“It’s a strange situation: ‘chess on ice’ is an Olympic sport. But classical chess isn’t,” told Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of the world govertning body for chess (FIDE), the press as he threatened to sue to get chess included in the Olympic Games.
Curling is an Olympic sport and is promoted as “chess on ice,” but the real chess is left out in the cold, he said.
Eight years ago, the International Olympic Committee conferred some recognition on chess but never took the next step of making it an official sport, stated a disappointed Ilyumzhinov.
But some multi-sport games, such as the Asian Indoor Games, which were held earlier this month, have included chess and the Chinese version of chess.
Ilyumzhinov noted that Olympic competitors claim they are playing mind games – but true mind games are not included.”
Football players say, ‘We play with our legs but win with our heads.’ Basketball players say ‘We play with our arms, but win with our heads,’ ” he told the press.
Ilyumzhinov said FIDE is considering suing the IOC in the Court for Arbitration for Sport, the Swiss-based court that handles international sports dispute.
Ilyumzhinov said the chances of forcing chess into the Olympics this way may be small, but “as a minimum it would draw attention to the problem.”
From Ves’ sport news service, New York Post.
Chess and its players are doing fine. The problem is with the psycopaths running international chess. Perhaps someone should call the SPCA and put down these crazy people.